Dr. Barnard had taken one look at Damon's wrist when we reached St. Isidore, muttered something that sounded suspiciously like “What the fuck?” and started issuing orders to prep him for surgery.
"Can Maggie stay?" Damon asked. He'd wrapped his good hand around mine after Mitch bundled us into a vehicle and had only let go when the doctor made him let the nurse take his blood pressure.
He'd asked me how we'd gotten to the house. I'd given him the short version but hadn't left out the part where he'd attacked me. He'd been horrified, even though I told him it wasn't his fault. The journey to the hospital had been very quiet.
But he hadn't let go of my hand.
"No," Dr. Barnard said. "This will take longer than a standard installation. I'm going to put you under."
Damon grimaced but didn't argue. I'd just had time to tell him I'd see him when he woke up before Mitch and I were hustled out of the examination room.
At which point Radha and Cassandra pounced on me and hauled me off to another examination room to grill me about what exactly had happened.
I started to speak while Radha unwrapped Mitch’s dressing to inspect my arm.
"You should go look at Damon before he goes into surgery," I said. "There was some sort of link between him and that imp. I broke it, but I didn’t have time to do more than that."
Radha's eyes narrowed, and she made me describe the link and how I'd broken it. "Good girl," she said afterward. "The imp is dead, so that should be the end of it. But I’ll go and check. Maybe Meredith is on duty, too." She marched out of the examination room, leaving me with Cassandra. Who made me tell her the whole story, including how the demon wanted me back.
"Well, it can't have you," she said shortly. "And now that its lesserkind is dead, I don't think we'll have to worry about it trying again any time soon."
She fussed with the hospital blanket, smoothing it over my legs before reaching . "So Ajax wasn't under its control?"
"I'm not sure," I said honestly, letting my head drop back against the pillow. "His aura didn't look the same as Edward's. Agitated but it still glowed. And I didn't see a link between him and the lesser. I think maybe he made a deal. At this point, I don't think it matters, does it? He's dead.” Another death to add to the demon’s tally. And mine.
"Dead from his own choices," Cassandra said sharply. "This is not your fault. And you don't have time to wallow. You have power, young lady. You can do good with it. If you learn what you're doing." She started to ease the dressing on my arm back into place, her hands as sure and gentle as Mitch’s and Radha’s had been. I guess she’d dealt with her share of injuries over the years.
And her share of witches shaken by their experiences.
She was right. I'd seen a display of what real, practiced magic could do back at the house. Without the Cestis, I had no doubt that either Damon and I would both be dead, or he'd be dead and I'd be back in the demon's clutches. If learning magic would keep me—us—safe, then sign me up.
Cassandra finished redressing my arm. "There. You go wait for Damon. Plenty of time for us to talk about your training and what comes after that in a day or two."
What came after?
I was too tired to ask.
Which was why I was half asleep in a chair beside Damon's hospital bed when I heard him say my name.
My eyes flew open. I had no idea how long it had been since they'd wheeled him in from recovery. He'd been spaced out, giving me half a smile before falling asleep. I must have nodded off, too.
"Hey," I said. Happiness bloomed in my chest, tempered by wariness. The last time we'd been in this sort of situation, in the aftermath of fire and death and magic, he'd walked away from me. He could very well do it again. "How are you feeling?"
"I can't feel my arm, but otherwise okay," he said. He stretched his good hand toward me. "How are you?"
I curled my fingers through his, the warm weight of his skin making my heart lift. "I have no idea," I said.
He grinned. "Have I left you speechless?"
"I think that was everything else," I said, my mouth drying. That had been Damon in flirtatious mode. Surely he wouldn't flirt with me if he was about to tell me he was leaving again? But then again, he could also be hopped up on painkillers.
"Yeah, let's not do that again," he said. His expression turned serious.
I looked away, bracing myself.
"Hey," he said. "Look at me."
I lifted my eyes.
"I'm not a slow learner, Maggie. Well, maybe I have been a slow learner, but I don't make the same mistake twice. And the biggest mistake I've made was walking away from you. I told myself I could do it. That it would be fine. I guess I should have known I was wrong about that when I kept drawing Archangel to look like you.”
I held my breath, heart tumbling over. “That was you?”
He smiled. “Yes. I did her face about a hundred times. Each time she looked like you.” He lifted one eyebrow. “I didn’t think you’d seen it. You didn’t say anything.”
I waved that away. We could talk about all the dumb things we’d done later. “You were talking about mistakes.”
He nodded, hand tightening around mine. “Letting you go was stupid. I was stupid. I hurt you. I’m sorry. And, if you can forgive me, I promise you I won’t hurt you again.”
“I’m still a witch.”
“I know. I thought I could walk away from magic. But it's out there. That shit is out there. And you and the Cestis, you help people. And I can help you. If you'll let me."
I wanted to. Oh, I wanted to. But I had to know for sure. "Why? I've almost gotten you killed twice. Why do you want more of that?"
"Because I want you," he said simply. "I need you. I was miserable without you. You might be a witch, and magic might be scary, but not as scary as being without you again. You're a witch, Maggie Diana Lachlan. My witch. I love you. And your fight is my fight." He tugged at my hand, pulling me toward him. "I'm Team Maggie," he said. "Team Magic."
Magic was many things. I had no doubt it was going to bring more trouble with it in the future. But it had also brought me this man. This time I was going to hold on tight.
"Team Magic," I agreed. And leaned forward to kiss him.